is a subterranean melting pot.

A fiery inferno

ready to boil over at any moment.

Anywhere

or anytime.

Imagine that today is the day

the ground beneath your feet gave way,

and the Earth's crust rips open.

Giant rifts cause unparalleled destruction,

and city streets are covered

in scorching lava.

Things are about to get a little toasty.

Our planet is geologically active.

The bad news is, we can't tell when,

or where, something called

a large igneous province

(or LIP) could form.

LIPs are geological features formed

when a massive amount of magma

flows onto the Earth's surface.

This can result in regional-scale uplift,

continental rifting,

breaking up the ground,

and climate changes.

LIPs do some major spring cleaning,

but their house is the Earth itself.

Most of us know about an asteroid

hitting the Earth and wiping out the dinosaurs,

but most people don't know that

the Earth nearly got devastated

by a large igneous province

that formed in Siberia 250 million years ago.

Now, imagine that we had to deal with

a colossal LIP like that today.

Urban areas would be decimated by the rift,

causing extensive destruction.

And those quakes?

They're just the preview.

Next, the lava makes its grand entrance.

Once here, it's on the warpath.

Farmland needed for raising crops

would be incinerated.

Bodies of water like lakes, streams and rivers

would be vaporized if there was enough lava.

And depending on how fast the lava flows,

endangered species would be wiped out

if they couldn't relocate in time.

It would also devastate the economy.

Schools, businesses and hospitals

would be ravaged,

along with infrastructure like highways,

power generating facilities,

gas lines and water mains.

And that beautiful new house you bought?

It's covered in lava.

Your new car?

It's under lava.

And what about you?

Well, according to Oregon State University,

lava moves on a flat slope,

like Hawaii's Mount Kilauea,

at a maximum of 10 km/h (6.2 mph).

The average speed people walk at

is 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

and average running speed is about

13 km/h (8 mph).

So if you were good at track and field,

now's your time to shine.

Lava flowing downhill,

like Mount Nyiragongo,

can speed along at

100 km/h (62 mph).

Good luck outrunning that.

In addition to the extreme heat

burning, melting, and destroying

anything it touches,

lava releases particles into the air

and toxic gases such as

sulfur, carbon dioxide and halogen.

Even if you can get out of the lava's path,

you're still in danger from breathing the gas

and particles in the air.

How long can you hold your breath?

So with all that,

Well, there's no how-to manual or strategy

to combat the formation of an LIP.

How and when they form

is a pretty complex subject,

requiring a lot of scientific disciplines

to understand.

But, it's not like it's really going to happen,

right?

Well, it's definitely possible.

In 2018, Mount Kilauea in Hawaii erupted

and destroyed more than 700 homes.

Now, Kilauea is a volcano

rather than a large igneous province,

but it makes it clear that magma

is still flowing to Earth's surface,

and there's plenty more down

in the Earth's core and mantle.

So, maybe we should start planning for it.

There are procedures in place to deal with

volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,

so why can't there be one for LIP's?

Our planet is going to continuously

shift and change forever.

It makes us wonder what other mysteries

could be brought to the surface

with these geological shifts.

What if the entire planet was cut in half?